Coating mechanism



Jan.

WWW? W 5 sHEEvs-sHraer 2 F. M. PETERS ET AL. CoA'riNs MECHANI sM El LED FEB.

Patented dan. 2, 1923i es y"rr r FRANK Ir. reruns am) 'Wannen II. 'ri'onenaronn or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, Assrenons fro Parures MACHINERY COMPANY, orcnrciieo, ILLINOIS, A coaroim'rron ver p ILLINGIS. y

v Gelernte MECHANISM Application inea February 5,.'192'0.` serial No'. 356,541.

To all 'whom t mai/concern.'

lle it'lrnoirn that ive, FRANK .ll/l'. Permis and VARREN H. HUNGERFORD, both citizens oi" the United States7 residing` atqChicago, in the county otfCoolzv and State ot illinois. have ted certain 'nen'and uselfu'l Improvements 'in [Coating i Mechanism7 ot which the iolloa'mg is a specii'cation.l

Uur invention relates dimproyements in coating mechanisnfiV and -lofparticular value in connection with the application oi finishing coat-ings,l such as icing to articles .Ycrsely exteiridingparts such as Q2.

o'l food such cakes.

The principal objects or bne invention are i to provide an improved `apparatus ot the character referred to by which the coating-j n y be rapidly andl economically applied; te proif'ide au improved machine so organ.A ized, that there is substantially no Waste oi' coatingmaterial due o-dripping^ orlealrage; to provideA an apparatus so organized as to apply a uniform coating` or' the.. desired thicgness7 or impairment oil they product due to the coating not being` of sufficient hiclrness; to provide an improved arrangement whereby the coatino may vbe applied substantially automatically iii'ithout requiring skilledr or expert attention to secure the best results; toproyide a machine so organized, thatthe presence oi"- the article itself will control the application of the coating; to provide a. construction which will be sanitary and prevent contamination oi either tue article or the coating therefor; topro: vide a construction `Which Will ermitlapid cleaningv and enable the supply olicoatingl material to be con.f'enientlvv and rapidly replenished; to provide simple and ellicient i-- ins 'ller insuring` unitori i y ofthe coat.

material and prevent coagulation 'thereoli" d i ral to provide animprored coating appa us ot the character referred iO. v j

in the drawinga"which illustrate our invention as applied te a-machine A'for ,icing bakery products,` such as caledFig. 1 is a side elevation of the machine; Fig. 2 is an enlargement of a portion oit-Fig. l, certain parts being shown in section; Fig. is a section ot the valve mechanism which controlstlie HOW of coatingA material; Fig'. l is tion; F 5 is a section taken on thev line of Fig. 2; Fig. Gis a section taken-on the line 6-6- of Fig. 2; Fig. 7 is a section taken on the line 7-9'7 .of Fig. 6 and Fig. 8 is a section taken on the line S-Sf of Fig. l.

Referring to Fig. l, the frame ofthe machine is seen to consist of a pairy of skeleton castings 2O and ,2l Which extend to the floor v'oil the room7 said side frames Q0 and 2l ,being suitably connected together by trans- The material supply. tank 23 is supported at the upper end 'of a pair of ill-shaped castings bolted to the tops of the Side frames. y The apparatus is driven by any suitable source .of `rotary power7 such as an electric motor 25, which drives a shaft 26 through suitable reduction gears 27 and 28. .The

anfenlargement of ya portion of. Fig. l, the air rvValve mechanism being shown 1n sechorizontal shaft 26 `is journaled in the side frames loi the machine and carries a spur gear 29 meshing With `a larger Agear 30 keyed touapshaft 3l, also journaled in the frames oi the. machine.` On the shaft 31 is keyed Va'sproclret Wheel 32 which, by means of a chain drivesa .sprocket Wheel dleyed to the shatter a rotary pump said pump being of any suitableA type ,and having an inlet opening' 36 and a discharge 37. Said` `pump is constantly rotated by the motorv -dersideo the cone-shaped lowerv end i3 ot the material supply tankl 23. It will be understood that the lsurfaces of the `coneyshaped flange eandjthe lower end` of the .25 as long as the machiiiel is yin operation and I hub ll0 ot eight @ft e meter-ml Stir-Ply tank 2B is not .the inlet 46 of the coating control valve 47,

said valve being' or' a S-way type as shown best in Fig. The valve casing is arranged to accommodatefa rotary valve steinor shaft 48 on which is keyed or otherwise suitablyv secured, a swinging `gate member 49 which in non-coatinicr` position, occupies the position .in full lines shown in Fig; 3, closing the coating discharge 50. vWhile coating position, it occupies the position shown in dotted lines at 51 in Fig. 3, opening theport 50 and restricting the by-pass opening 52 leading` into the vertical by-pass pipe The upper end of the vertical 1oy-pass pipe 53 is fitted to discharge downwardly into the upper end of' the coating supply tank 23 as shown at 54 in. Fig. 1.V y I 'l The coating` discharge 50 of the 'coating control valve 47 is connected by means oi a short pipesection 55 with a coating head or spout 56, the latter having,` an enlarged body terminating in a hat or fan-shaped nozzle 57. Said nozzle preferably is equipped with orilice plates 58 and 59, the latter being,- hinged to the upper side of the nozzle 57 as shown at 60, so that it may be moved to or from the stationary orilice plate 58 by means of a short link 61 connected to a control lever 62. i

In the position shown in Fig. 2, the orifice between the orifice plates 58 and 59 is completely closed, there being` no cake passing under the nozzle in the field of the coating mechanism.

ln the positionv shown in 4, the control lever 62 has been oscillated slightly so as to litt the movable orifice plate 59 away from the stationary orioe plate 58, thereby permitting` the coating material to flow out oli' the discharge orifice 63. The control lever or arm 62 (see also Fig. 5) iskeyed or pinned to a rockshaft 64 journaled in stationary arms 65 and 66 depending,- from a transverse fraine member 67 extending across the machine and carriexl by a pair of suitable brackets 88 and 69 suit-ably bolted or otherwise secured to the frame part. 20 and 31 of the machine. v@n the rear end ci said rock sha ft 64 there is keyed an upwardly dirooted arm 70 connected by means oi link 71 to an intermediate pin 72in the length' of an arm 73 keyed to the outer end of the valve stem or shatt 48, so that when the arm' 73 is rocked, the nozzle and vthe coating supply valve will be simultaneously operated. i

` rlhe cakes are `lied into'the machine horizontally, either byl hand or automatically, andare received upon the upper stretch of a horizontally disposed endlcss'belt 74, supported on a pair of vdrum pulleys 75 and 70 .iA/ideati.

fed to shafts 77 and 78 journaled in the .the ends of they belts 74 and 80 and in order ide'lfranies oi the machine. The said belt to propel the cakewhile it occupies said space,y we employ an,` intermediate conveyor belt section supported'on druins 86 and 87, keyed to shafts 88 and 89 also journaled in thejside frames. is will be seen irom inspection oit 6, the belt 85 doesv not coinpletely occupy i the interval between the belts 74 and 80,7spaces 90' and-91 being)` provided to .admit certain actuating members 92 and 93, vthe functions of which will later be described;l

The said belts 74, 85 and 80 all move in the direction'oi the arrow 79 and receive power in the rst instance vfrom the shaft 26 heretofore referred to. @n said shaft 26 there is keyed a pulley 94 which drives through a belt l95 a pulley 96v keyed to a horizontal shaft 97 joui-naled in the side trames of the machine. VTo fsaid shaft 97 there is keyed sprocket wheel 98, which through a chain 99, drives a'sprocket wheel keyed to the shaft 83 previously referred to. @n the other end ofsaid shaft 83, there is keyed a sprocket wheel 101 which, by chain 102, drives a sprocket wheel 103 keyed vto the rear end or" the shaft 84. @n the front end ofthe said shaft `-84 is a sprocket. wheel 104 which, by means of a chain 105, drives a sprocket wheel 106 keyed to the `front end of the shaft 89. On the rear end oie the shaft 89 is keyed a sprocket wheel 107 which, through a chain 108, drives a sprocket wheel v109 keyed to the rear end of the shaft 7 8.

It will `.be obvious that by means of the vclass just described, all of the belts are operated in unison and continuously by the motor 25 when the machine is in operation.

Hence, it will be understood that when a cake is received on. the outer end oit the belt 79, it will progress continuously and unitorinly through the machine until it is f finally delivered by the outer end ot thedelivery belt 80, ln .order to prevent the cakes 'from slewing or moving side-ways on the belts, suitable stationary guides 110 and 111 may be employed, the receiving ends cit said guides being vsuitably dared as shown` at 112.

ln vthe vcoknstruction shown, the coating apparatus is controlled by the presence or absence of the cake itself, so that the coating` mechanism is rendered operative only where there is a. cake passing through the an orifice and connected with said discharge conduit for directing the coating material upon the surface of said calge during its movement, and valve mechanism for alternately interrupting the flow ot' material through the discharge delivery or the coating delivery.

Ll. ln combination, a cake conveyor, a tank containing a supply of material of tluid consistency for coating said cake during its movement by said conveyor, a continuously running pump communicating with said tank and having a discharge conduit delivery into said tank, a conduit provided ivith an oriiice and connected with said discharge conduit for directing the coating material upon the surface of said cake during its movement and valve mechanism for alternately interrupting the iiow of material through the discharge delivery or the coating delivery, controlled by movement of the calze by said conveyor, whereby the material is conducted through said oritice only when the cake is in position to be coated.

5. In combinatiton, a calze conveyor, a tank containing a supply of material of fluid consistency for coating said cake during its movement by said conveyor, a continuously running pump communicating` with said tank and having a discharge conduit delivering into said tank, a conduit provided With an orilice and connected With said discharge conduit for directing the coating material upon the surface of said cake during its movement, and valve mechanism for alternately interrupting the flow of material through the discharge delivery or the coating delivery, said valve mechanism being actuated by the cake itself.

6. In combination, a receptacle for containing a supply of material of fluid consistency, a conduit connected to said supply and provided with an oriiice for directing the material upon the surface oi' an article ot food to be coated therewith, a movingV support for propelling said article past said orilice, valve mechanism associated with said conduit for controlling the supply oi' coating material, mechanism actuated by the movement oit the support for controlling said valve mechanism and rendered effective to coat said article by the presence of an article on said support, the arrangement including al povver means controlled rby said last named mechanism and for operating said valve mechanism.

7. In combination, a receptacle tor containing a supply of coating material of iuid consistency, means for directing said material on an article or food, a movable support for propelling said article past said directing means, valve mechanism for controlling the supply of coating material, a`

cylinder for operating said valve mechanism and means for controlling a supply of operating fluid for said cylinder, actuatec by the support and controlled by the presence of an article on said support.

8. In combination, a receptacle :tor containing a supply of coating material of Huid consistency, means for directing said material onan article of food, a movable support for propelling said article past said directing means, valve mechanism for controlling the supply of coating material, a cylinder for operating said valve mechanism and means for controlling a supply of operating fluid :tor said cylinder, actuated by the support and controlled by the presence of an article on said support, the arrangement including independently actuated members for respectively starting and arresting the admission of coating material.

9. ln combination, a support, a vertically movable seat on said support provided With a central discharge opening and a tanlr carried by said support and provided with a seat surrounding the discharge opening into said tanlr and adapted to lit said iirst seat. l0. In combination, a support, a flange member having threaded engagement With said support, its axis being vertical, a pump on said support, a tank carriedby said support and having a discharge orice surrounded by a sealing surface arranged to nt Within said lange member, the flange member and the support being apertured to provide communication between the tank opening and the pump.

FRANK M. PETERS.

WARREN H. HUNGERQFORD. 

